The Tang Family’s Seven Os - Chapter 174

The day of Tang Qi Yuan’s birthday was always a big deal for Tang Bo Te and Qiu Yuan, who started preparing the day before, cooking a table full of food for the children and making the house as festive as a holiday.

As in previous years, the seven little Omegas happily exchanged gifts with each other. Their birthdays fell on the same day, so it was their annual ritual to give thanks for each other’s birth and companionship.

After lunch, Tang Qi Yuan played with his brothers at home for a while and was watching them play games when he received a call from Sheng Chen.

“Come to my house for dinner later, my mum wants to celebrate your birthday.” Sheng Cen said breezily over the phone.

“How did Auntie know it was my birthday?” Tang Qi Yuan asked with a smile in her voice as she held the phone.

Sheng Cen was silent for a moment before asking: “……What do you think?”

Tang Qi Yuan couldn’t help but giggle, naturally because his good table mate had remembered his birthday and told Empress Xia.

Sheng Cen was a little embarrassed by his laugh, coughed lowly, and said gruffly: “I’ll pick you up later.”

“Okay.” Tang Qi Yuan agreed in a pleasant voice, his heart inexplicably rising with anticipation.

He played at home for a while, and then waited for Sheng Cen to pick him up.

When Tang Qi Yuan followed Sheng Cen to Orchid Palace, the whole palace was silent. As soon as he walked in, Empress Xia and Sheng Xi suddenly appeared, smiling and started singing a birthday song to him, and Yan Fei was also there, holding two balloons in his hand, clapping his hands in a decent manner and singing happily along with them, looking innocent and cute.

Tang Qi Yuan was touched and smiled, feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

After the song, everyone started to give Tang Qi Yuan gifts. Empress Xia gave Tang Qi Yuan a scarf she had knitted herself and Sheng Xi gave Tang Qi Yuan a painting he had painted with his own hands.

Yan Fei didn’t know it is Tang Qi Yuan’s birthday today, but he happened to come here and happened to meet him, so he didn’t prepare a gift. He gave Tang Qi Yuan a membership card from his pocket, which is said to be a membership card for one of his family’s shops.

Tang Qi Yuan accepted the gifts one by one and smiled gratefully at everyone, happy in his heart. He was so happy not because the gifts were so valuable, but because he could feel their heart from these gifts, so he was extraordinarily touched.

After finishing his own gift, Yan Fei looked up at Sheng Cen and smiled: “Cen Ge, where’s your gift?”

Sheng Cen didn’t answer, he directly turned around and went upstairs, and after a while, brought down a few papers.

Seeing this, Yan Fei couldn’t help but grimace, “Cen Ge, this can’t be your present, can it?”

Sheng Cen didn’t ignore him and directly handed the papers to Tang Qi Yuan.

After staring at the two ordinary papers for half a day, Yan Fei could not see anything special about them and wondered why. He couldn’t help being a little puzzled, he felt that Sheng Cen’s gift was a bit shabby, but the next moment, he saw Tang Qi Yuan’s eyes burst with a strong surprise, he smiled even happier than when they gave gifts their just now, as if he had obtained some priceless treasure.

Tang Qi Yuan turned the papers over one by one and looked up at Sheng Cen in surprise, asking in an excited voice: “Did you pass every subject?”

Sheng Cen nodded his head in a very reserved manner, but his eyes were firmly fixed on Tang Qi Yuan’s, paying attention to every hint of his reaction.

Tang Qi Yuan let out a cheerful cry, jumping up with the papers and hugging him, “Great! You’ve improved again!”

Tang Qi Yuan was overjoyed, he was already surprised when Sheng Cen scored a high score of thirty in the last exam, but he didn’t expect that in this exam, Sheng Cen would pass straight away!

Sheng Cen curled his lips and asked with a smile, “Is this birthday present satisfactory?”

“Yes! Especially satisfied!” Tang Qi Yuan’s eyes twinkled with little stars, looking at the marks on the paper, he couldn’t help but praise Sheng Cen, “Table mate, as expected of you, you’re really making fast progress, it seems that your efforts are really not in vain, we have to keep up the good work, you have to believe that as long as you work hard and advance, you will definitely achieve better results.”

Sheng Cen listened to the compliments of his little table mate and looked at Yan Fei with great pleasure, raising his eyebrows in a showy manner.

Deflating his mouth, Yan Fei moved to Sheng Xi’s ear and whispered, “Xi Ge, Cen Ge is lying.”

He had been coming to Orchid Palace a lot since he was young and naturally knew how good Sheng Cen was at studying, so of course he wouldn’t be deceived by this so-called sixty points, he knew at first glance that Sheng Cen was lying.

Sheng Xi laughed lowly and said in a small voice: “Then you quickly expose him.”

Yan Fei shook his head and deliberately made a scared face, saying in a very exaggerated manner: “I wouldn’t dare.”

Sheng Xi was so amused by his look that he burst out laughing, his pale face showing a few flushes of colour. Yan Fei waited for his eyes to fix on his face, his eyes unconsciously straightening, the smile on his face becoming bigger as Sheng Xi laughed, then pretending to look even more scared, teasing Sheng Xi to laugh even more.

While Tang Qi Yuan was very pleased with Sheng Cen’s birthday present, Empress Xia held her ground on behalf of Tang Qi Yuan and slapped Sheng Cen’s head, saying: “What kind of present is this? No, no, Xiao Qi, if you have anything you want, just tell him and ask him to re-gift you.”

Tang Qi Yuan looked up at Sheng Cen and asked with some expectation: “Is that okay?”

Sheng Cen reluctantly nodded, “Just don’t mention silly requests like letting me be friends with Chen Zi Zhan.”

Tang Qi Yuan nodded, then said without hesitation: “I want to hear you play the piano.”

Ever since he saw that piano in Sheng Cen’s room last time, he had wanted to hear Sheng Cen personally play the piano.

Hearing his words, Yan Fei immediately let out a cheerful cry, “Great, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard Cen Ge play the piano.”

Sheng Cen frowned slightly and looked up at Tang Qi Yuan, “You really want to hear it?”

“En.” Tang Qi Yuan nodded his head, his gaze expectant.

Sheng Cen hesitated for a moment and took Tang Qi Yuan’s hand and went straight upstairs. Yan Fei followed and wanted to listen together, but was shut out by him without mercy.

Yan Fei could only go downstairs resentfully and ran to Sheng Xi for comfort, taking the opportunity to be act like a spoiled child.

After entering the room, Sheng Cen let Tang Qi Yuan sit down on the sofa, then walked over and lifted the lid and sat down in front of the piano.

Although he hadn’t played the piano for a long time, Empress Xia had always had it carefully cleaned for him, so there was no dust on it at all, and it was still spotless and as new as ever.

Sheng Cen stared at the piano for a moment, then turned back to look at Tang Qi Yuan, who was looking at him expectantly, his dark pupils clean and focused, and there was only him in his eyes.

He couldn’t help but smile and turned his head, placing his fingers on the piano and gently pressing the keys. The familiar melody had long been in his mind, and even though he hadn’t played it for a long time, his fingers still seemed to carry the memory with them as he pressed the keys skilfully.

As Sheng Cen moved, the gentle sound of the piano slowly flowed through the room. Tang Qi Yuan was fascinated and lay on the sofa, listening quietly, Sheng Xi was right, Sheng Cen did play the piano very well, a very talented kind of good, every note seemed to have its own life.

Tang Qi Yuan was listening to the music in his ears, and his eyes were fixed on Sheng Cen’s back. Sheng Cen was sitting in a very upright posture, playing the piano with great skill and ease, and the light shone on his body, looking noble and exquisite, just like the little prince in the book.

Tang Qi Yuan thought blankly that he is indeed a prince, it was a pity that he was not as well protected as the little prince in the book, instead he had to face this cold world from a very young age, but fortunately, he still had his mother, his brother and his favourite piano.

When the song was over, Sheng Cen stopped moving and turned back to ask him in a warm voice: “Is this birthday present satisfactory?”

“……Satisfied.” Tang Qi Yuan nodded in a daze, he was still immersed in the sound of the piano just now, he was half a beat slow to come back to his senses and couldn’t help but say: “It’s really nice……especially nice.”

His gaze dropped and he said with some regret: “Will you still be willing to play for me in the future?”

Sheng Cen looked into his eyes and gave a soft ‘en’, turning back to put cover the piano again.

Tang Qi Yuan’s eyes lit up at his words and he couldn’t help but ask: “Will you still be willing to play for me in the future, even if it’s not my birthday?”

“En.” Sheng Cen stood up, using impatience to hide a little shyness that rose from nowhere, “Alright, it’s time to go downstairs for dinner.”

Sheng Cen took the lead and headed out of the room, Tang Qi Yuan immediately followed, cheering with a leap of joy, “Sheng Cen, you really are the best table mate in the world!”

Sheng Cen coughed unnaturally, his ears reddening imperceptibly, “Got it, long-winded.”

When they came downstairs, Empress Xia and the others had already prepared the cake, Yan Fei was standing next to the switch, and when he saw them coming down, he immediately reached out and turned off the lights.

As the room went dark, Sheng Xi smiled and lit the candles on the cake, turning back to Tang Qi Yuan and saying softly, “Xiao Qi, come over and blow out the candles.”

Yan Fei walked over and said to Tang Qi Yuan in a soft voice, “This cake was made by Auntie Xia herself, she has been busy all day, and the painting on it was drawn by Xi Ge himself, isn’t it beautiful?”

Tang Qi Yuan walked over to the cake and looked at it with bright eyes. On the cake were the words ‘Happy Birthday Xiao Qi’, and on it were five people drawn with jam, one of them was in a wheelchair and looked like Sheng Xi, and the two people standing next to him were Empress Xia and Yan Fei.

Among the five little people, the one wearing a birthday crown on his head was Tang Qi Yuan and the one standing next to him was Sheng Cen, all these little people had sincere and bright smiles on their faces and looked very happy.

Tang Qi Yuan looked at them seriously for a long time, lifted his head, smiled a little shyly and said gratefully: “It’s beautiful, thank you all.”

Apart from his family, it was the first time someone had given him such a heartfelt birthday celebration.

Sheng Cen took out a birthday crown from somewhere and put it on his head, looking down at him, his voice unconsciously carrying a hint of tenderness, “Make a wish ba.”

“En.” Tang Qi Yuan nodded, put his hands together, closed his eyes and made a serious wish, he paused for a moment before opening his eyes and blowing out the candles.

Everyone cheered a few times and the room erupted in laughter. Yan Fei went over and turned the lights on, and the room lit up again, with bright smiles on everyone’s faces, just like the five little people painted on the cake.

After blowing out the candles, Empress Xia went to the kitchen to put the food on the table, while Sheng Xi and Yan Fei enthusiastically went to help.

Tang Qi Yuan also wanted to help, but Sheng Cen pulled him back and asked, “What did you just wish for?”

“Wishes don’t work if you say them out loud.” Tang Qi Yuan looked at his table mate, not really wanting to say it.

Sheng Cen didn’t agree with him and said in a good-natured way: “If you don’t say it, how will people know what your wish is and how will they help you to fulfil it? Do you really expect the gods to help you grant your wish?”

Tang Qi Yuan thought about it and felt that there was some truth in what his table mate said, so he spoke up and said: “I wish that Sheng Cen would study well and improve every day, and that when he becomes Emperor in the future, he would love and protect us, the grassroots.”

Anyway, rather than expecting the gods to help him fulfil his wish, why not let his table mate work hard.

“You’re thinking quite a lot.” Sheng Cen looked at the worried little table mate and laughed lowly, then said: “Add one more.”

“Add what?”

Sheng Cen hooked his lips, “Let Tang Qi Yuan annoy Sheng Cen less in the future.”

“That’s not possible.” Tang Qi Yuan turned his head to the cake and made a serious wish, “Please let Tang Qi Yuan urge Sheng Cen to be positive for the rest of his life.”

Sheng Cen’s eyes twitched as he dabbed a bit of cream on his finger and gently nudged it on his nose, his voice very low and soft: “May your wish come true, accompany Sheng Cen for the rest of your life.”

melon: aww